Delhi Police spends Rs 15 crore on vehicle maintenance
The Right to Information (RTI) data reveals that the Delhi Police's security wing had submitted maintenance bills worth Rs. 1.41 crore in 2013-14.
The Delhi Police spent about Rs. 15 crore on maintenance of its nearly 3,500 vehicles in the year 2013-14. The figure may not raise eyebrows at the first glance, but a close scrutiny reveals that some battalions and departments have alone submitted maintenance bills exceeding Rs. 1 crore each. Moreover, the largely new fleet of police vehicles includes nearly 2,000 bikes.
According to the information gathered through an RTI query filed by activist Zeeshan Haider, the Delhi Police's Third battalion spent Rs. 1.93 crore on maintenance of its vehicles, including vans, bikes and cars, in 2013-14.
Interestingly, the Third battalion has 96 vehicles out of which 10 are not in usable condition. It means that the battalion spent more than Rs. 2 lakh on an average annual basis. Till June 30 this year, the battalion spent Rs. 36 lakh in just three months.
Similarly, Outer District police has submitted a bill of Rs. 1.30 crore for the maintenance of their vehicles. According to a senior officer, Outer District has approximately 250 vehicles, out of which around 150 are bikes. On an average, Outer District also spent Rs. 50,000 for maintenance on each vehicle.
The Central District had maintenance bills worth Rs. 1.11 crore in the same period. Surprisingly, the same district has spent only Rs. 8,000 on the maintenance of vehicles in three months ending on June 30 this year. Delhi is divided into 11 police districts.
The Right to Information (RTI) data reveals that the Delhi Police's security wing had submitted maintenance bills worth Rs. 1.41 crore in 2013-14.
"The figures are raising questions and an enquiry is required to check how many fake bills were generated for the maintenance of vehicles. It is bizarre that cops spent Rs. 2 lakh on a bike which cost only Rs. 80,000," a senior government official said.
At the same time, there are various battalions whose maintenance bills are much lesser in comparison to others. The Delhi Police's Fourth battalion has spent Rs. 8 lakh in two years. In 2013-14, the battalion spent Rs. 5 lakh.
Similarly, the Second battalion spent around Rs. 6 lakh in three years on maintenance of vehicles.
"Almost 60 per cent of the vehicles are recently inducted into the force. The Delhi Police has a policy to scrap any vehicle which is more than five-year old. And almost 50 per cent of the PCR vans were recently purchased. The force got 370 new PCR vans last year itself. Every Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) and above rank officers have new vehicle," a senior police officer said.
The fleet of police control room (PCR) vans comprises Innova, Tavera, Qualis, Gypsy, SX4, Accent and Ambassador, while Bullet and Pulsar are the preferred choices of city cops when it comes to motorcycles.
The Delhi Police deploy its fleet of four-wheelers and twowheelers for various assignments, including patrol duty and keeping a check on speed demons in the Capital.